Multiple filling and sealing device



F. BRODSKY MULTIPLE FILLING AND SEALING DEVICE June 13, 1950 Filed Oct. 21, 1946 `Ilune 13, 1950 F; BRoDsKY 2,511,324

MULTIPLE FILLING AND SEALING DEVICE Filed Oct. 2l, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 /n Ven for,

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June 13, 1950 F. BRoDsKY MULTIPLE FILLING AND SEALING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed 001;. 21, 1946 .lune 13, 1950 F. BRoDsKY MULTIPLE FILLING AND SEALING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Tiled 001;. 2l, 1946 Patented June 13, 1950 sirius ATENT ortica 42,511,324 MULTIPLE- 'IILLiNG AND sEALI'No envios rank Brodsky, New VYork, Y. Apprneaiion october 21, 1946, serial No; 7a4-54 This invention relates to lling and sealing dee vices for containers', and it is an improvement on the filling and sealing device for containers disclosed in my Letters Patent of the United States, Number 2,167,624, issued August l, 1%9.

One object of my present invention iste provide a lling device for a container which will automatically assure a ydesired level in the lling, and will automatically prevent an overncw.

Still a 'further object of my invention is to Diovide a iilling device for a container, which device will producean air vcushion over the liquid lled into the container, and thereby keep the level of the liquid at a predetermined height.V

Still a further object of my invention is to prof vide a novel, efficient, filling device for a row 'of containers, all oi them to be iilled simultaneously, and provide means to seal a row of containers lled before, operating simultaneously with the filling of said first row, and also provide means to move rows of containers for such continuous, novel and efficient lling and sealing or them.

Still further objects of this invention will be partly appa-rent andpartly pointed out asthe specification of the same proceeds, and, among others, I may mention: to provide a device of said several purposes, which still will be simple in construction and operation, which will have long wearing qualities, and in which the parts will be easily removableand replaceable, for cleaning, repairing", and adjusting.

In the drawings forming a part of this speci fication, and accompanying the same t Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of my air cushion multiple filling and sealing device;

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof on a larger scale, portions of the saifnehavingr been removed;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal, partly elevational and partly' sectional View on a still larger'scale, portions having been broken' away, or being indicated in an imaginary manner for economy and clearness of showing, the section generally being taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

4 is a transverse, partly elevational, partly sectional View, portions of the device having been broken away, and the section having been taken generally on the line @-4 of Fig. 3; y

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional View ofr an air cushion filling valve, on still a larger scale than any of the earlier figures;

Fig. 6 is a detail view of a sealing disk receiving and feeding plate used in my device, and

Fig. '7 shows a modification of the sealing disks used in my device.

Referring now to the drawings" morelin detail.

4 claims. (ci. ezsie by characters of reference, the numeralsA la and il' indicate two side' walls forthe frame structure of my device, interconnected by appropriate cross bars i3, inthe front and the rear, adjacent to the botterns of the side walls, and a cross plate i4 at about the center of the frame walls and in the rear half thereof.

Various cross members or regions are arranged in the operating mechanism 'of the device between said two frame walls.v In the front such cross region, generally indicated bythe letter A, therlling operations for the containers, partiularly pitchers,V cups or the like for which my device is designed, is executed.-

In the second cross region,- generally indicated by the letter B, the sealing of the containers is done, while inv the third region, general-ly indicated bythe letterMC,` the sealing disks for the next sealing operation are placedA tubular shaft l5 is rotatably arranged between the' tw'o walls near the upper rear ends thereof, and being journaled thereon in any appropriate manner, as indicated at` Iii,vl and an opera .lng handle `iii secured at about the center of the .sl-'lait it.

lAdjacent to the lower inner sidesof each of the sidewalls I5) and l! are arranged spaced apart trarne membersY it and le, at a portion the front part of the device, and cross reinforcing hollow square tubes 2li and 'il may connect theiii to the-respective side walls of the frame. Rails `22 and 23 are secured on said inner frame walls i8 and `i9 near the bottoms thereoij, and a container carrying tray, generally indicated rby the numeral 24, may slide on the rails 22` and by appropriate sliding channels 25 and 25.

Tray 24 may have abottom plate 2l, two side Walls 28 and 29, front and rear walls 3Q and di, and lit may have a plurality of transverse walls 32 by which it is subdivided into transverse com vpartmentsr.v In Fig. 3, however, these compartments are formed by substituting said bottom and said' transverse walls by independent angle pieces, as will be obvious.-

Into each of such` compartments may be placed a predetermined number of containers to be filled, as the pitchers 34, shown or diagrammatically indicated in the drawings, and, as will be understood, my device is adapted to ll such a crossY row of containers 34 with one operation, arid seal the one to the rear of it, filled in the previous operation, simultaneously with said rst mentioned filling of a row. In the' drawings, six suchcontainers areA shown as arranged in one cross row, `out, of course, a larger or smaller number may be used, as well as the tray may be made for a larger or smaller number of cross rows than the six shown in the drawings.

Across the upper front part of the device, a reservoir 35 is placed, preferably in a removable manner, and may be secured thereon by any appropriate means, as by resting the front portion thereof on the transverse side plate posts 36, and the rear portion thereof resting on the top of a rectangular hollow structure 31 (to be described hereinafter) by a reinforcing plate 38 at the bottom of said container.

A plate member 39 may depend from the reinforcing bottom member 38 at the two sides thereof, and may be engaged in an appropriate groove 46 in the respective side wall, whereby a transverse movement of the reservoir 35 will be prevented, and, finally, two securing bars 4I may be arranged at the sides of the reservoir 35, said bars being pivoted, as at 42, and normally being in a downward and forwardly pushed position, as indicated in full lines in Fig. 3, their forward slots 43 engaging securing pins 44 in the respective side walls lli and i l'.

These bars will prevent an upward movement of the reservoir. If it is desired to remove the reservoir, bars 4| will be pulled rearwardly, as by the pins 45a and as indicated by the arrow 45, then turned upwardly on their pivots 42, as indicated by the arrow 46, their open position being shown in dot and dash lines in Fig. 3, and in a fully vertical position in Fig. 2. In this manner, the reservoir may be easily removed, washed, cleansed, sterilized, the same time aerating tubes 5| may also be removed and cleaned, then all replaced and secured in its position.

Across the rear of the reservoir, filling devices, generally indicated by the numeral 41, depend therefrom, one such filling device being provided for each container 34. In the embodiment shown in the drawings, six containers and six lling devices are placed across and underneath of the rear of the reservoir in the region A.

Each of the said lling devices or valves comprises a filling pipe proper 48 secured into the bottoni of the reservoir, as by the screw threads 49, and communicating therewith through a respective hole 55 provided in said bottom. In the center of each filling tube 4B, a so called aerating or air releasing tube 5l is arranged, projecting through the hole 56 in the bottom of the reservoir above the highest upper level of the liquid in the reservoir, as shown in Fig. 1. The bottom end 52 of the aerating tube is open, and is secured into a cross disk 53 which is integral with an outer tube 54, slidable on the filling tube 48 and having the filling holes 55 around its bottom circumference.

A U-shaped or channel bar 56 is also arranged underneath and across the rear portion of the reservoir 35, said bar having a disk 51 for each lling device or valve 41, and the upper end of the outer tube 54 is secured in said disk, as indicated at 58, said U-shaped cross bar 56 and its disk 51 being upwardly and downwardly slidable over the ller tube 48.

A flanged bushing 59 is arranged around the lower part of each outer tube 54, said bushing carrying resilient sealing disk 60, which may be made of rubber. A relatively strong helical spring 6i is placed between an upper adjustable washer 62 and the flanged bushing 59, said washer also being secured on the outer tube 54 but somewhat below the disk 51, a good portion or space between them being filled by the bottom 56a of the U- shaped cross bar 56.

The use and operation in my machine of these individual filling devices or valves will be understood by the construction described and by the showing in Figs. 4 and 5.

In Fig. 4 these devices are shown in a closed normal position, in which the spring 6| is allowed to press the U-shaped bar 56 upwardly, and the rubber sealing disk 60, through its bushing 59, downwardly. In such a position, the lower end 59a of the bushing will engage a ledge or flange 53a on the head 53 of the outer tube 54, and thereby the lower portion of said bushing will close the exit holes or openings 55.

The whole outer tube 54, however, at the end of the filling operation, will be moved upwardly through the upward movement of the U-shaped channel 56, and a ring portion 53h on the upper part of the bottom disk 53 of the outer tube 54 will be pressed across the lower end of the iilling tube proper 48, whereby the exit of the liquid from the tank through said tube 48 will be doubly prevented. Angular members 63 may be secured on the reinforced bottom 38 of the reservoir 35, and serve as limits for the upward movement of the channel cross bar 56 (Figs. 3 and 5).

Now, when it is desired to fill a row of containers 34, placed underneath the row of filling devices 41, across the rear of the reservoir 35, channel bar 56 will be pressed downwardly, as indicated by the arrow 64, whereby the outer tube 54 will be moved downwardly, carrying the innermost aerating tube 5l with it, and releasing the exit holes or openings 55 (Fig. 5). At the same time, however, washer 62 will compress spring 6i, which will act on bushing 59 and press sealing rubber disk 60 on the top rim 65 of the container 34, thereby sealing the same. In this position, the liquid 66 in the container 35 may freely flow down through the ller tube 43 proper, and out through the exist openings 55 into the container 34.

When, however, the upper level of the liquid in the container 34 reaches a predetermined position, as indicated at 61 in Fig. 5, it will close the iiller openings 55, and the compressed air cushion 68, produced thereover, will prevent a further flow of liquid into the container 34. In this manner, it will be seen, each container will be lled to a certain height, and cannot possibly be filled to a smaller or larger extent. The aerating tube 5i will serve to permit the exit of the air from the container 34 at the first part of the filling operation.

The downward movement of the U-shaped cross bar 56 will be executed in the following maner: a disk, generally indicated by the numeral 10, is secured near each end of the tubular shaft I5, said disk being loose on the shaft and having the major part of its central position removed, as indicated at 1l, thereby practically forming two rings at the two sides of said space 1I, with a solid portion 12 of the ring 10 connecting them. An arm or pin 13 is secured across the shaft I5, and may play in the space 1|. A second arm 14 is secured into the intact portion 12, carrying roller 15 at its outer end, as well as a slide 16. Said slide is slidable on a long arm 11, pivoted in the front part of the respective side wall, as indicated at 18. It will be seen that, as the center handle l1 of the shaft is turned downwardly, as indicated in an imaginary manner by the arrow 19, arm or pin 13 will engage the intact portion 12 of the ring 10 and will move arm 14 downwardly, as indicated by the arrow 80, roller vengaging the outer end 11aI of the lever TI. At the end of the downward movement of the lever, of the handle I1, and the respective turning of the shaft I5, the respective parts are indicated in Van imaginary dot and dash maner at lila, 15a, I'Ia, and 11b.

The lever TI, however, carries a hook device 8l, adjacent to the respective end of the channel bar 56, and projecting upwardly through an appropriate hole in the bottom 56a thereof. The channel bar 59 also carries a pivoted catch device 82. The inner arm 82a, when turned in an inward direction through an appropriate hole in the side of the channel bar 96, will engage a hole in the top of the hook device 8|, as shown in Fig. 2, v

whereby the hook device 8| will be locked, when desired, to the channel bar 56, and, upon the described movement of the shaft I5 and lever VI, hook device 8| will pull the channel bar E downwardly, whereby the same may cause thc A cross bar 99 is arranged over the row of previously filled containers 34a, said bar having a rim engaging rounded recess 9! for each container 34a, and a hole '92 for the sealing plunger 93 thereabove, the construction and operation of which will be more fully described presently. Bar 99 is suspended on a parallel bar 94 thereabove.

The upper bar 94 is slidable on two end pins 95, secured in appropriate members 96 of the side wall frame structure. A spring 91 normally pushes the upper bar 94 upwardly. The lower bar 99 is suspended thereon through two pins 98, adjacent to said end pins 95, their lower ends being secured in the lower bar 9D, and their upper ends being slidable in the upper bar 94 and carrying a head or nut 99 by which they are suspended, as mentioned.

Closure recesses 9i are arranged in the lower bar S9, one for each container, jar, or pitcher 35a, said recess having acurved portion by which it may fit over the top rim of the jar 34a, as will be understood, to rest thereon and to enclose the same. Said recesses are continued upwardly by the cylindrical openings S2 in the bar Qd. A sealing plunger 93 is arranged over each opening 92, having a lower sealing disk head upwardly and downwardly slidable through saidl hole. Plunger pin or shaft Illia for said head e3 is slidable in the upper bar 9d and is suspended therefrom, as by the nut Idil. A spring i9? is interposed between the sealing plunger head 53 and the upper bar 94.

On each of the main operating levers 'I'I of my device, at the two sides of the same, I arrange a depressing member ICIS in alignment with the bar 9d and normally slightly thereabove.

It will be obvious that, when the levers 'I'I are moved with their outer ends downwardly, as indicated by arrow 8S in Fig. 3, and as has been described hereinbefore, the depressing members 98 will engage the respective ends 94a of the bar 9d, and will press the same downwardly against the spring 91, of the end pins 95, on which the bar iid is upwardly and downwardly slidable, said downward movement of the bar 94 being indicated by the arrow |09. Such a of the springs I 9? interposed between the sealing heads 9i and the bar 94.

A comparatively thin sliding feeder plate III is arranged over the cross plate I4 in the rear of the machine, having a second thin cover plate H2 arranged thereoverg but permitting an easy sliding of the same on the plate I4 and between the same and said cover sheet II2 (Figs. 2, 3 and 6). The front portion of the slidable plate IIE has semi-circular recesses H3, one for each of the containers Sila to be sealed in the row B. A plate'moving arm im is secured on the same at the two sides thereof, having an upper recess IE5 in which may operate the arm H6 secured through the tubular shaft I5, as indicated in Fig. 3. When the hand-le I'I of said shaft is turned in the direction of arrow 19, as previously described, arm `I i6 will move forwardly, as indicated by arrow l Il', engaging the recess II5 and moving the arm I lll in the same direction, thereby also moving the sealing disk feeding plate t I -I in a forward position.

A usual sealing disk H8, vwell known in this art, and normally made of cardboard or similar material, is placed on the base plate M into each recess IIS in the front of the sliding plate I `i I, and when the same is moved forwardly, it will push the disks I l over the openings Q2 in the bar 99 and said disks may then be pushed through said openings and into the sealing recesses 3de, by the sealing heads 93.

A cross frame or supporting member II9 may be secured above the front bar of the plate I, and spaced apart therefrom, permitting the slid- .ing plate I l l to move back and forth thereunder. A plurality of apertures are provided in said cross member I I9, and over each opening is secured -a sealing disk storage cylinder I20, in which are stacked the sealing disks H3, normally resting on the sliding feeder plate II I., but when said plate is moved rearwardly, as indicated by the arrow I2 Lits front semi-circular recesses I I3 will be placed into registering relation with the feeder cylinders E29 and the lowermost sealing disks IIB will enter into the respective recesses I I3 and will rest there in the position indicated in Fig. 6. When the feeder plate I II is moved forwardly, as indicated by the arrow |22, it will push the said lowermost sealing disks over the openings 92 in the bar 94, as has been indicated hereinbefore.

The movements of the described parts, when operating the shaft I5 through a downward or rearward motion i9 of the handle I'I, is so timed that first the arm H will move the respective sealing disks II 8 over the openings 92 and the arm ll will only then press the bar 9d to such an extent that the sealing heads 93 will enter said openings, whereupon, on a further movement of the arms ll, the sealing heads 93 will tightly press the disks H8 in the respective sealing recesses 3de of the containers.

Upon a return, upward orV forward, movement of the handle l?, as indicated by the arrow Idd, the arm lIB will move rearwardly, opposite to its earlier movement, and will engage the plate i moving arm H4 in an opposite direction, pushing the same and the plate therewith in the rearward direction of arrow I2 Upon an adequate rearward movement, new sealing disks ||8 will drop into the front recesses |53 of the plate from the stacks in the cylinders |23.

It is to be noted that upon such a reverse, forward movement of the handle as indicated by the arrow |23, the shaft l also will be turned in the direction indicated by the arrow |24, opposite to the one described hereinbefore, but this will have no moving eect on the arms il'. Such a movement will not try to move the intermediate arm it, either, in an opposite direction to the one described hereinbefore (arrow as now would be indicated by the arrow 80a, since disk it and `arm it are loose on shaft |5, and arm |26 will rest on stationary member |25, pulled so by spring |21', while the shaft I5 is permitted to rotate in the direction of arrow |24, swinging pin li rearwards, as indicated by arrow |28.

The pin i3, which was active in the rearward turning of the handle li (arrow 79), will now, upon a forward turning (arrow |23) be entirely inactive, leaving its engagement with the lever |26, as indicated by the arrow |23. Spring |2 insures a fixed contact between stop |25 and arm i during this operation.

The final position of the handle il, after such forward turning thereof (arrow |23), is indicated in an imaginary manner at |122.

It will be seen, by observing the described parts and their interaction, that upon the rearward turning of the handle Il (arrow 19), shaft l5 and its associated parts will act on the lever El through the pin i3, and will cause the containers 3ft to be iilled in the region or cross row A, through the lling devices di, as has been described hereinbefore.

Before that, however, at the initial rearward turning of the handle il, the arm H5 will move the feeder plate forwardly, and place the feeding disks lid under the respective sealing heads S3, and on a further turning of the handle l? in the direction of the arrow i9, bar 3G will be pressed downwardly and cause the disks HB to be pressed sealingly into the container recesses 3de, by the action of the sealer heads, as will be understood.

The ends of channel bars 56, operating the sealing mechanism in region A, are resting on the double springs |3| in the vertical housing |32, through the intermediacy of the pins |33, slidable in the slots |311 in said housing, and said springs will return the bar 56 into its original position and thereby close the filling devices when the sealing operation is finished and the lever Tel is permitted to return upwardly from its depressed filling and sealing position.

As has been described, the row of containers in the region A are rst filled upon the depression of the lever TI by the rearward turning of the handle l'i (arrow '59) and at the same time, with additional such turning, the earlier filled containers Ella will be sealed in the region B.

Upon a return movement of the handle Il (arrow |23) the feeder plate will be moved rearwardly (arrow |2|), for a reiilling of the recesses H3, and with the same movement of the device, the tray 24 will be moved rearwardly with one row of containers, whereby the earlier filled container row will be placed in the region B to be sealed with the next return movement of the handle Il, and the next row of emptl containers, in Figs. 1 and 2 being indicated as the region D, will be placed into the position A, ready to be lled with the said next movement of the handle To eifect such a relative movement of the various rows of containers, the upward arm Hd, secured on the feeder plate I||, and being the moving member for the same, is extended downwardly, as indicated at |Ma, and has a catch lever |35 pivoted at its lower end, as indicated at |36 (Figs. 3 and 4) In the longitudinal ledges I3? of the bottom plate for the tray 24, recesses |33 are arranged, which may be engaged by the teeth |39 at the ends of the pivoted catch levers |35.

The recesses |38 are shaped in such a manner that, upon a rearward moving of the feeder plate and the depending arm lita therewith, the tooth |39 of the lever |35 will engage the same and will move the tray 24 rearwardly with one row of containers, while upon a reverse forward moving of the feeder plate the tooth |39 will be disengaged from the recess |38 and will have no effect on the tray.

On the sides of my device, a stationary pin |48 is arranged for each pivot lever |35, on which it may ride in its rearward operating movement and thereby will be gradually lifted out of engagement with the recess |38. In its final position, arm |35 will rest on said pin, by a recess |4I, as indicated in its imaginary rearward dot and dash position |3511.

The spring |5|| at the end 11a of lever Ti (Fig. 3) is arranged for steadying the respective parts, as will be obvious.

In Fig. 7 I show a modified form of my sealing disks, wherein the disks ||8 for sealing one row of the mentioned containers, in the case illustrated six of them, are interconnected with web portions I|8a, which facilitates their handling. Perforations ||8b also may be provided to ease the separation of the disks.

It will be understood that in using this modincation, the lling tubes I2!! will be provided with appropriate vertical slots to permit the sliding downwardly of the web portions |8a.

It will also be understood that my device may be used not only for jars for cream or molasses, but also for any other kind of appropriate containers, even paper cups, to fill a great plurality of them with speed, regularity and ease.

While I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that changes and variations may be resorted to in the elements, constructions and combinations of my invention, and I reserve my rights to such changes and variations as are within the spirit of this specification, and the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

What I claim as new, and want to protect by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

l. In a sealing device for a plurality of containers with open tops and arranged in a row in a spaced apart manner, a chain of sealing disks above the top and at one side of said row of containers arranged in a similar row and spaced `apart in a similar manner, a substantially weak interconnection being provided between each two disks in the row, a support for said chain on which it may slide transversely to the row of said containers and into registering relation with their tops, means to push said chain on said support into said registering relation, said means being adapted to so move said chain without disturbing the arrangement of its row, said support having a Irecessed portion through which said disks may drop over the tops of the respective containers, means to press said disks on said containers, said pressing means at such operation also breaking said interconnections between the disks.

2. In a device, as set forth in claim 1, portions of said interconnections being removed to further weaken the same at the desired breaking places.

3. In a device, as set forth in claim 1, said means for pushing said chain on its support including a plate slidable on said support and having a leading edge turned toward said chain, an aperture being provided in said edge for each disk adapted to partially encircle the respective disk.

4. In a. device, as set forth in claim 1, said chain 5 the chain.

10 being formed of an integral piece o! relatively easily breakable material, like cardboard, said weakened interconnections between the disks being strips of said material in the axial line of FRANK BRODSKY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 10 file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

